What kind of guitar setup gives you the most note sustain? (for rhythm and/or leads)

[AD Chaos]

Hello all

So, as the title says, or,
I'd like to ask you what kind of guitar specs you think -or know- rob a guitar of sustain/string vibration or resonance in the guitar..

A thin solid body (strat-style?), probably bolt on necks, tremolo system(s), maybe even a FloydRose, locking nut, neck girth, active/passive pups, variations in the action, choice of woods?

Or external factors (not the guitar's fault), maybe an under-gained pre, over-compression, a solid state dist, lack of screamer box, something else?



Thanks much

 

[MarkG]

old strings
poorly set up floating bridge
strings too low (hitting frets)
bad fretwork
bad wood
bolt on necks (vs neck-through)
low output pickups
low gain
improper EQing (you need those mids and highs)

just off the top of my head

 

[53Crëw]

There's no absolutes because I have a Floyd Rose strat that out-sustains my old Les Paul. So choose a guitar that has good sustain to begin with.

Having said that, the following will choke sustain for any given guitar:
-Pickups too close to the strings will possibly choke sustain and cause intonation issues because of the strong magnetic pull. (Some pickups are more sensitive to this than others.)
-Poor/worn fret condition.
-Excessively low action resulting in fret buzz chokes sustain.
-Loose hardware like tuners, loose string nut, or bridge/saddles.

Good wood helps sustain, and I think a heavier guitar will generally, but not always, have slightly better sustain.

 

[Shinozoku]

The biggest affecting factors to guitar sustain in no specific order:

Quality of neck joint, especially on bolt-ons (Gibson's mortise and tenon neck joints provide less neck-to-body contact, so really they COULD have better sustain)
Action
Neck relief
Pickup magnet strength
Fret setting
Resonant properties of the wood.

After that, it's resonant properties of the parts that make it up (zinc vs. brass trem block; lightweight aluminum TOM vs. composite; etc.)

 

[some-dude]

First, I'd look at anything that can actually impede the motion of the string. If we overlook poor technique and how it affects things, I'd probably start with action, fretwork, nut/saddle, and pickup height. Fretboard radius can be an issue to if you're talking about bending on a vintage Fender neck.

After that, I'd probably look at hardware quality. Stuff like pot metal vs machined parts, tuner quality, etc. I used to block the trem on my guitars equipped with one, so I'm not sure if the springs vibrating will detract from string sustain or not.

Personally, I think neck joints and wood type are pretty low on the list. I've never had any issues getting a mahogany set neck to sustain, nor have I had any issues with a bolt on maple neck and ash/basswood body. On the other hand, I have had poorly sustaining guitars that could be fixed by upping the action, and I have made great sustaining guitars suck through shitty technique.

 

[Zozobra]

The biggest affecting factors to guitar sustain in no specific order:

Quality of neck joint, especially on bolt-ons (Gibson's mortise and tenon neck joints provide less neck-to-body contact, so really they COULD have better sustain)
Action
Neck relief
Pickup magnet strength
Fret setting
Resonant properties of the wood.

After that, it's resonant properties of the parts that make it up (zinc vs. brass trem block; lightweight aluminum TOM vs. composite; etc.)

Add to that the bridge and type/quality of the bridge coupling to the guitar. The mass of the brdige is a pretty big deal.

Pickups dont increase sustain, they give the illusion of it. The compression and higher output of a hot pickup make the tail of the note a comparatively higher volume and allow it to maintain saturation and fullness, but pickups and amps (unless feeding back) cant make the note ring longer. Its purely a property of the resonance and vibration transmission of the guitar.

More powerfull magnets, and pickup proximity to the strings, do diminish sustain though (except actives, obviously)

When it comes to neck joins, its worth mentioning that there is no, or very little difference between a well made through, bolt on or set in terms of sustain. An interference fit bolt on thats secure and tight will transmit vibration through it as though the guitar is one piece. Same for a set if the join is wood to wood contact and the glue is all absorbed into the surfaces. If the neck is bolt on and slightly decoupled, if there are spaces between the neck and pocket, then the body and neck will resonate seperately to a degree and you lose some fundamental and sustain. Likewise if a set neck is made with space between the wood thats filled with a mass of glue, then the glue is shite at transmiting vibration and low end punch and high end clarity go down the pan, along with sustain.

The only real sustain advantage of a through neck is that you know that the neck join isnt an issue; the sustain is being affected only by all the other variables. Well made versions of each construction have very comparable sustain, all other things being equal.

Oh, it has been suggested that the finish affects it, the logic being thicker finishes damp the resonance of the guitar. I'm not convinced thats a major effect, but its plausible.

The string run over the nut should be straight for best sustain as well. Also, short; long headstocks allow more resonance past the nut, which can reduce sustain slightly in the main run of the string (as well as diminish and cancel overtones on the string). Thats easy fixed with a sock or some tape though.

 

[Brandon E.]

Sorry but bolt-ons resonate more than neck through's or set neck. It is wood on wood contact, grain touching. A 1 peice body with a 1 peice neck bolted on to it will outsustain any guitar that has like 7 boards of wood glued together or a set neck pocket that is once again putting a layer of glue between the wood. Maybe it's not a BIG difference but I've actually never played a neck through guitar that could hold a candle to my Charvel San Dimas and my Jackson PC1 in terms of being loud resonant and sustaining, and I've played a lot of shit. The best were all light body bolt on guitars, and the WORST were dull, dead sounding Les Pauls and neck through superstrats. It should be LOUD acoustically if you are looking for sustain.

Also thicker necks tend to sound better, balances out the weight of the guitar.

So my ideal resonant guitar specs would be:
1 piece LIGHT body. alder, ash, maybe a light piece of mahogany like what Caparison uses. If you want the whole guitar to resonate well you should have a light body and a heavy neck I think.
1 piece, thick bolt on maple neck (by 1 piece I mean ONE PIECE, no fretboard)
Bigger headstock can help
tune-o-matic or other kind of fixed bridge (but I think a blocked floyd rose sounds great, when the tremolo block is actually resting on the wood in the inside of the guitar. Brass block can help too sometimes.)
NEW STRINGS
tight strings
Good fretwork
higher action

When all else fails, sustainer pickup

I don't claim to be an expert or anything. I typically don't listen to a damn thing anybody tells me and only use my ears, so this is based off of my experience with every guitar I've played and owned. Also, I don't see how the tuning machines can make any kind of difference, or really how the nut makes any difference on anything other than open notes. Anyone care to explain some science behind how that could effect sustain/resonance? Until then I refuse to believe it's a factor.

 

[some-dude]

Also, I don't see how the tuning machines can make any kind of difference, or really how the nut makes any difference on anything other than open notes.

They used to use heavy tuners to increase the vibrating mass on the headstock. I don't know if anyone thinks that way anymore... I don't see a lot of people with brass saddles anymore either. Easy access to higher gain seems to have killed that trend.

 

[egan.]

I don't think I've ever run into a situation where a guitar in good repair (setup, no high frets, new strings etc) didn't have plenty of sustain. I assume such a situation exists since so many guitarist are obsessed with it but that's my experience.
The short answer is it's complicated b/c it requires many discreet components to work in concert together. It's also true that any system involving resonance is going to be more efficient at different pitches b/c each component has it's own resonant frequency.

 

[Rex Rocker]

Yeah, thicker/tenser strings usually sustain better, IME.

 

[Shinozoku]

Add to that the bridge and type/quality of the bridge coupling to the guitar. The mass of the brdige is a pretty big deal.

Pickups dont increase sustain, they give the illusion of it. The compression and higher output of a hot pickup make the tail of the note a comparatively higher volume and allow it to maintain saturation and fullness, but pickups and amps (unless feeding back) cant make the note ring longer. Its purely a property of the resonance and vibration transmission of the guitar.

More powerfull magnets, and pickup proximity to the strings, do diminish sustain though (except actives, obviously)
When it comes to neck joins, its worth mentioning that there is no, or very little difference between a well made through, bolt on or set in terms of sustain. An interference fit bolt on thats secure and tight will transmit vibration through it as though the guitar is one piece. Same for a set if the join is wood to wood contact and the glue is all absorbed into the surfaces. If the neck is bolt on and slightly decoupled, if there are spaces between the neck and pocket, then the body and neck will resonate seperately to a degree and you lose some fundamental and sustain. Likewise if a set neck is made with space between the wood thats filled with a mass of glue, then the glue is shite at transmiting vibration and low end punch and high end clarity go down the pan, along with sustain.

The only real sustain advantage of a through neck is that you know that the neck join isnt an issue; the sustain is being affected only by all the other variables. Well made versions of each construction have very comparable sustain, all other things being equal.

Oh, it has been suggested that the finish affects it, the logic being thicker finishes damp the resonance of the guitar. I'm not convinced thats a major effect, but its plausible.

The string run over the nut should be straight for best sustain as well. Also, short; long headstocks allow more resonance past the nut, which can reduce sustain slightly in the main run of the string (as well as diminish and cancel overtones on the string). Thats easy fixed with a sock or some tape though.

The majority of that was implied in my post. I was referring to the incredibly sustain-dampening powers of neodymium magnets and the sort when referring to magnet strength

And thank you for fleshing out details on well-made neck joints (Loose vagina bolt neck will sustain as much as a brick on concrete).

Sorry but bolt-ons resonate more than neck through's or set neck. It is wood on wood contact, grain touching. A 1 peice body with a 1 peice neck bolted on to it will outsustain any guitar that has like 7 boards of wood glued together or a set neck pocket that is once again putting a layer of glue between the wood. Maybe it's not a BIG difference but I've actually never played a neck through guitar that could hold a candle to my Charvel San Dimas and my Jackson PC1 in terms of being loud resonant and sustaining, and I've played a lot of shit. The best were all light body bolt on guitars, and the WORST were dull, dead sounding Les Pauls and neck through superstrats. It should be LOUD acoustically if you are looking for sustain.

Also thicker necks tend to sound better, balances out the weight of the guitar.

So my ideal resonant guitar specs would be:
1 piece LIGHT body. alder, ash, maybe a light piece of mahogany like what Caparison uses. If you want the whole guitar to resonate well you should have a light body and a heavy neck I think.
1 piece, thick bolt on maple neck (by 1 piece I mean ONE PIECE, no fretboard)
Bigger headstock can help
tune-o-matic or other kind of fixed bridge (but I think a blocked floyd rose sounds great, when the tremolo block is actually resting on the wood in the inside of the guitar. Brass block can help too sometimes.)
NEW STRINGS
tight strings
Good fretwork
higher action

When all else fails, sustainer pickup

I don't claim to be an expert or anything. I typically don't listen to a damn thing anybody tells me and only use my ears, so this is based off of my experience with every guitar I've played and owned. Also, I don't see how the tuning machines can make any kind of difference, or really how the nut makes any difference on anything other than open notes. Anyone care to explain some science behind how that could effect sustain/resonance? Until then I refuse to believe it's a factor.

Science between sustain and resonance? Basically, you got it right. However, you haven't played many choice neck-throughs or set necks apparently.
The nut really only affects tuning stability, come to think of it. And lighter tuners really just help the whole neck dive aspect. I likey me some light tuners.
Check this article for info on neck construction, wood resonance, laminates, etc.
http://www.frudua.com/guitar_craftpedia_en.html